Murder charge in pursuit crash

STOCKTON - The Stockton Police Department revealed harrowing new details Wednesday of a high-speed pursuit that ended with a deadly crash after an alleged carjacker shot at police late Tuesday night.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - The Stockton Police Department revealed harrowing new details Wednesday of a high-speed pursuit that ended with a deadly crash after an alleged carjacker shot at police late Tuesday night.

Eric Nolan, a 30-year-old Elk Grove resident who was heavily armed, fired multiple shots at police before losing control of his vehicle and crashing into a tree near North Pershing Avenue and Interstate 5, authorities said. There were three other people inside the vehicle, including Gabriela Aparicio, a 27-year-old Stockton woman who was killed in the crash, police said. Two other occupants, a 19-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, both of Stockton, suffered serious injuries, authorities said.

Nolan was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder of a police officer, carjacking, kidnapping and multiple drug and weapons violations, police said. Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department, said Aparicio's death is not being considered the city's 70th homicide of 2012, because it does not fit the FBI's uniform crime reporting definition for murder.

Nolan was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries Tuesday and was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail late Wednesday afternoon. The unidentified passengers who survived the crash are not likely to be arrested, Silva said.

"(Nolan) was driving so fast and reckless," Silva said. "Obviously, he was driving at a high rate of speed, and at one time during the pursuit he fired upon officers. He had total disregard for human life and public safety."

Police believe a deadly series of events started at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday, when Nolan and a woman allegedly carjacked and kidnapped a 55-year-old man who stopped his Ford F-150 pickup at a stop sign at South American and East 1st streets.

Nolan punched the man in the face several times and pushed him out of the truck near East Hazelton Avenue and Aurora Street before driving away, authorities said.

Police still are trying to determine whether Aparicio was involved in the carjacking, Silva said.

Nearly three hours later, at 9:46 p.m., Stockton police Sgt. Matthew Garlick was driving a marked patrol car when he saw the stolen truck parked in the 300 block of West Oak Street, officials said. Garlick saw two men walk away from the stolen truck and get into another vehicle, a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse, which then drove away, authorities said. Garlick attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but Nolan failed to stop and drove west on East Park Street at a high rate of speed, police said. Other officers joined in the pursuit as well.

Garlick saw Nolan point an object out of the window in his direction, officials said. He then saw a muzzle flash and heard multiple gunshots, authorities said.

According to police, Nolan was trying to get on Interstate 5 when he lost control of the car on the Pershing Avenue onramp. The car launched into a tree, fell to the ground and came to rest on its roof, trapping all four occupants inside, authorities said.

SWAT team officers made sure the scene was secure before firefighters extricated the people from the car. Aparicio died at the scene, authorities said. The other three occupants were taken to hospitals.

Officers found a sawed-off rifle inside the car and two loaded revolvers nearby, police said. No officers were injured during the pursuit, and none fired their weapons, authorities said. Garlick was placed on a three-day paid administrative leave along with Officers Jeffrey Pope, James Manor and Thomas Heslin, officials said.

Silva said authorities have begun an investigation to review the officers' actions. The investigation will include members of the Stockton Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office and the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.

"We've launched a multiagency protocol investigation to ensure an unbiased investigation into the facts of this case," Silva said. "At the end of this investigation, all reports will be submitted to the District Attorney's Office for their review."